Arch6ologischesInstitut der Universitiit Salzburg

Archiiologisches Institut mit Museum

derBulgarischenAkademiederWissenschaften, Sofra

VassilMKOLOV
StefanHILLER Lurd
Hemusseber

KARANOVO
BAND III

BEITRAGEZUM NEOLITHIKUM
IN STJDOSTEUROPA

PhoibosVerlag,Wien2000
 TheKaranovoNeolithicmortuarypracticesin their
BalkanandAnatoliancontext
Krun B4EUAROV

The studyofNeotithicnorruarypracticeson thelandofBulgariabeganabout70 yearsagowith thediscovcryand

publicationoi tbe Early Neoliitricgravefiom ihe DevetakjCaveL.Overa hundredNeolithicbudalsthroughourthe
ierritoryofButgariahavebeenregisrered sincerh€n,but only a smallpart of then hasbeenpublishedandtheir sludy
hardlygocsbeyondiheframeworkofa generaldescripllof
Sibjecr of rhe presentstudyare rh€ tu,enty_eighr Neolithicgravesfron TelLKaranovo the biggestNeolithic
norruarysequence on Butgarian land.Theywereall discovercd (in Secrion II, Northeastem intemal,Northeaslemexternal
andsourhwestemsecrion)in theperiod 1947 1957duringexcavationsca ied outby v Mikov andG. L Georgiev,buthave
so far remainedunpublished. The datapresented herecomesfrom lhe fieLdrecordsofthe excavations andis io a large
extentincomplete. In manycas€sthereis lackofinfonnationrcgarding bothihe sex-and-age characteristicsofthc skeleial
remains and the archaeological contexr,the position andorientation ofthe skeletons.Below I wiil systematize theexisting
Neotithic mortuary ilaiaand by building a general classificationI will considerthemwithin the contextofthe coniempoEry
andin certaincasesearliercomptexes fromrherestof rheBalkansandftom Anaiolia.I will heredwellneitheruponthe
inrerpreration oflhe mortuary pracrices,nor on theirsemantics. I shouidalsopointoutthaiihe analysispresentedbelow
coveisoniy intranuralburials,i.e.,ihe areaunderconsideration doesnotincludetheceneteries ofthe HamangiaClrliure
sincerhe most partof this specific culiural devclopment reiates to the Copper Age.
In the EarlyNeolithic]ayersof thete]I,refering to the KalanovoI andKarano\,o1l p€riods,13 graveshavebeen
discover€dthr;e belongingto youngindjviduals, onero anadultfemale,twoto adultind;viduals ofunidentifiedsexand
six children,sones.Thedeadwereburie.lin a contracred positionon theifleft side,on theabdomen andontheback,and
in an extendedpositionon theabdomen.Theywele orientedwith theirheads!o the south,north, nodhwest, west,southwest
snil southeast. Inveniory 7 beadsfrom snailshellsandtwo boneneedles asregistered only in one lbmalegrave.
specialattentionshodibe givento a grave,foundunderadweltjngfloorandconrainjng skeletatremains majnlyskulls
andlongbones-ofa largenumberofchildrennot in anatomical order.
tnine LateNeotithii tayersrefening b rheKaranovolII, KaranovoIII-IV andKaranovoIV periods 15 burials have
beenregistered-3childrcni ones,2ofarlultindividualsofunideniifiedsex,3ofadultfemales,3ofyoungindividuals,2
ofindividualsofunidentifiedsexandage,aswell asa doublegraveofan adullindividualandachild Theywereburiedin
a conracledposirionon rhe left side,on theight sideandon the back,andin an extended positionon the back.theil
headsorientedsouth\r,ards, nonhwards,wesiwards,eastwardsandnorthweslwards.No inventory hasbeenfound. In two
ofthe casesthe skrlts werelnissing.Skullsandsepafaiebonesbelongingto childrenand adult individualsnot in anatomical
orderhavebeen discovered in a gr€atpit.
For the systenatizarionofthe mortuary dalafrom rheNeolithic laye.sofTell Karanovo,and for thcjr comparative
studyivithinthelimirsofth€ BalkansandAnarolia,Iemploya classificalion, basedonthewaythebodywasburiedwbjch
deremrines rheexistence oftwo mainclasses ofmorruarypractices:rhe ini classcomprises practiceslnwhichtheperiod
berweenrhe time ofthe biologicat dearb and the burial was relatjvely shot and lhe arclraeological resultis a grave,
containinganarticulared skeletonin a contracted or extended position;thesecondrcfe|Sto mortuarypractices whefeihe
periodunler.consideration was longef and the archaeological rcsuli is a grave, containingskelelal remains not in anatomical
;rder.I definethe first classasformalinhunatjon,andthesecondassecondary inhumation'
Formal inhumltion. undoubtedly ihis is the most widespread Neolithicnortuary praciicein Tell Karanovo,
represented by 26 burialsin iwo groups - individual and group inh narion.
The groupofformal individualinhunalionhasbeenregistered undernvo typesaccordingto $e locationofthe
grave in i <trvelling or inierdwellingspace , rhe rypes thenselves being dividedintovariantsdepending ontheposition
in which the deadwereburied (conrracred on tlre side,on the back, onthe abdom€n, or extended on the back, or on the

Fonnal i dirntual inhunatio in interd||eltingspacein a contfactedpositia, or lle slde.This varianthasbeen

regisreredin 19 gravesfrom Telt Kamnovo- onefrom the KaranovoI perio4 8 fiom the KaranovoII andlll periodseach
andonefromKaranovoIII-IV andKaranovolV periodseach.IntheEarlyNeolithictheburiedbelongingto thisvariant
wercpredominantlychildrenandyoungindividuals(wirh two exceplions), theirbodiesgenerallyhavinga southward
orieniation (wirh oneexception). In the layers
LareNeoljthic we find rnainlyadultindividualsbuded(6), with children

I Popov 1929.
r Georgi€a 1957. 56 flj 1961, 65j rvanov 1978; Todorovwajsov 1993,221 fl
137
andyoungindividualslessjn number(2). The orientationalsochangesithe deadwereburiedwith thejr headsto the
nofih, nonhwestandwest(with iwo exceplions to ihe easlandsouth).GraveinveDtoryhasnot beenfoundin anyof

The situaiionthroughourtheresi ofrhe Bulgarianterritodesis analogousto theabove-mentioned one.This wriant has

beenregisleredin 25 casesftom 6 Neolithic settlements I Kazanlakr, Jasatepe,Kovadevoa,Cavdar,Slalina,Devehki Ca1'e
andSamovodene5 . I wouldlike to emphasize the factthatunlikethe buriedjn Tel1Karanovoftose casesincludingboLhEarly
and Late Neolithic representpedominantly adult individuals (16), while lhe group ofchildren and young individuals is
considerablylessin number(9). In the Early Neoliihic the orientationis mainiy norrh and eastward,whereasin ihe Late
Neolithic ir is wes!andeastward.Invenlorywas foundin four Early Neolithic andoneLate Neolithic grave-potterystonei
flint andbonetools, and clay stampseal.In oneEarly Neolilhic graveftom Kovaaevoa baby\ body was laid on a stone.
Tracesolred oclre havebeenregisteredon the thigh bonesofth€ sk€letonftom the Early Neolithic gra\ e from Ca\ dar.
The mostrypical examplesofihis variantwerediscoveredat TcpeGuran,KuruqayIldyuk andlLpmar X in Arratolia6,
AgiosPetros,LemaI andFranchthiin theAegean',Starievo,Teiia andSaraomc in theCentralBalkanzone8,Besenova
vecbe,CipauandGuraBaciuluiinRomania'.As is thecasewiih thegravesfron1Bulgaria,inventorywas exiremelyrare.
No significaniinrenelations havebeennotedbetween theorientalion, theposilionandihesex-and-age characteristics
of
dreburiedilrdividuals.
Forndl indbidual inh hlatianin the interdwellitlgspaceh a contructed positionon the back.The vaianl was
registeredin 3 burialsfiom TellKaranovo - ofa youngindividualofa! unidentified sex(Karanovo I), a childandanadult
female(KaranovoIV). Thedeadwereodentedwithdreirhcadssouthwards or nothwestwards. Therewasno inventory.
Thisvariantis fepresented injustoneothersettlement in Bulgaria- Knrdzali- rcferredto lhcKaranovoI period.The
lour gravesdiscoveredtherebelongto two childrenandtwo aduhindividudls,their headsorienredsoudrx,estor westwards.
I would like to point out lha!lhc gravepitswercsufiounded by stones:a peculiarityofthis silealone-
Analogousexamples ftom the sanevariant$'ereregistered in NeaNikomedeia andFmnchthiin the Aegean'd.
The\^n^ \ offbmdl individual inhumationi theintenlwe ing spacein an oitendedpositia an theabd.neil or on
l,4erack arerepreseDted byjust oneexanpleeacbliom theKaranovoII andlheKaranovolli lV periodsrespectivcly. The
firstcaseconcems thegmveofan adultfemale,herheadorienledtothe west,andrhesecond refercto a youngnrdividualof
a unidcntified sex,theheadpoinringnorthwest. Tbeonlygraveinventory fromTellKaranovo7 beadsand2 bonencedles
wasfound in the female's grave. As far asI know this Neolithic varianthasnot beenr€gisteredanlvhere else-
Fonnalindividualinhunationin a dwellingspace tu acontracted positionon thedbdolrer.Only onechild'sgrave
without inventory afiributedto the Karanovo II period,belongsto this variant.No analogies ofrhis burialcontexthav€

Formal group inhumation.This groupis represented only by onedoublegmv€,belongingto thefirst halfofthe

LateNeolithic (The KaranovoIII period)which makesthe formulationoftypes andvarianisquite impossible.The skeletal
renainsbelongedtoanadultindividualofan unidentified sexandachitd,buriedin a contracted positionon rhcside.No
inventory has been found. This group was regisreredin as many as 3 other settlementson the telritory of Bulgaria -
Bilgardevori,Gradesnica andKazanlik the fint two casesreferring1otheEarlyandthethird to the LateNeolithici:.
Jnventorywas discoveredonly in the grave fron GradeSnica(25 stonebeadsand a marble anthropomorphicfigurine).
Analogieswereregistered in HacrlarIIandAsrkl in Anatoliair,NeaNikonedeiain theAegeanrrandValeaLupuluiin

Secondaryinhumation.Thisclassis presented onlyby two examples fromTellKaranovo.Theybelongio oneand

the$me group- secondary collectiveinhumation buttheyfall inio differentrypesbecause oftheirspecificlocaiion.
Secandary collecttue inhunation*ithina d\Nellingspd.€.Thegravecontains theskeletalremainsofa largenumber
of childrenburiedin a pit undera dwellingfloor fton theKamnovoIIperiod.Budalsof thisrypehavenot beenfoundin
oth€rsettlementson Bulgarianlandbut we know of aDalogiesfrolr1qatal Htiylik in Anatoliar6aswell asfrom Prodromos
andAleDoiriDa in theAeeean'r.

I Unpublisheddata from thc field rcgister

' I would like to thankProf.M. Lichardu$ltterfor the oplortunityto uscthc untublishedprelimlnaryrelorts of the excavatiols.
i Detev 1959.8; Georgiev/Kdndev i981, 7; Pctkov1961,66 fli Nikolov/Crigorova 1992,222 flt Popov1929;Stmev i991, 21.
6 Mellaa l973, 87; Duru 1994,l0lj Gatcs1996.286.
7Elsbaiiou I 9 8 5 .1 3 , 2 1 ;W e i n b e r1g9 7 0 , 5 7 9Jia c o b s oC u l l e n1 9 8 1 .
I Fewkes/Gold'nan 1933,42It; Galovid1967,167iT.,l72i Garasadn1959.7.
'yComga1960,84; Vla$a/Palko1965.14.
r | W e i n b e r1y9 7 0 , 5 7 9J;a c o b s o1n9 6 9 . 1 7 3J;a c o b s o n / C u l1l e9n8 1 .
rrSpeciallhanks to Dr L. Pemiievafor the oplortuniryto citeunpublished informarion.
rr B. Nikolov 1975,37fli
r rM e l i a a r1t 9 7 0 , 3 6E; s i t r1 9 9 6 , 3 8 .
r aR o d d e n1 9 6 2 . 2 8 6 .
L rN e s t o f1 9 5 1 . 6 6 .
L ' M € l l a a r1r9 7 0 1, 02.
r Houmolziadis 1971.2l(Ji PalathdasopoLos 1971,22 fl
138
 Secondary colectiveinhunatianin theinterd\rellingsp4ce.Separate bonesandskullsbelongingto childrenand
aduli femalesandmaleswerediscov€red in a pit from ihe KaranovolV periodlayer.This t}?e was alsorcgisicredin
anolhersettlementonrhereniiory ofBulgaria TellAzmakL: aswell asfiom tbe lowesllayer of TepeGulnn in Anatolia'q.

ln conclusionI wouldlike to notethe abscnccofcetain typesofNeolithic motuary practicesat Tell Karanovo,

prcsentcdin otherregionsofthe Balkansor Anatolia.First,thereis rheabsence of cremarionburials,analogous to the
burialcontextsftom SouphliMagoulaandPlateiaMagoulaZarkou:oin theAegean.This specificfeature,howeveris
generallycharacteristicofthewholeteffiroryofBulgariaaswe11as ofAnatoliaandtheCentralBalkanzone-Following
the above-mention€d classificationprinciplesthesemortuarypracticescouldbe definedasClassIII.
From rhe Tell Kararovo formal individual inhumation group, the iype of formai individual inhunation in ihe
seiilemenis'peripheryhasnol be€npresentedeithet nor havethe variantsof formal individual inhumationin a dwelling
spacein a contractedpositionon theback,on rhesideor in a siiting positionandofindividual irhumation in an interdweiling
spaceon theabdomen. Neitherhasthegroupofsecondary individualinhumationbeenregistered. However,thismightbe
owingto the fact that very olien separatebonesin the sites'layersdo not receivedue consideration. The secondary
inhumationin theperiodunderconsideration is quitelikelyto havebeenfar morewidesprcad thanthedatapublished so
far givesus reasonto believe.This mightaccountfor tle sparsiryoftheNeolithicburialsdiscovered so far.

Relererlces
Coinga1960 E. Comsa.Contributie cuprivirela dturilefunerare din epocaneoliticadepe ieritoiul
tariinoasire.In: Onagiului Constantin Daicoviciu(Bukure$ti 1960),83 106.
Detev1959 P Dete\. Materiali zapraisrorijatanaPloldiv. GodiiniknanaroclnijamuzeiI Plovdit,
3, 1959.
DU|u1994 R. Duru.KuruqayHdynkL Resultsof lheExcavaliolrs 1978-l988.TheNdolithicand
EarlyCha.LcoliihicPeriods (Alrkara1994).
Efsrafio l985 N. Efstratiou.Agios Petros:A Neolithic Site in the NortbernSporades. Aegean
Relatlonships Duringthe Neolitlic ofthe 5tl Miller,itm (BARInternationalSeries
241)(oxfordI 985).
Esin1996 U. Esin.Asrkl! TenThousand YearsAgo:A Habitation ModelFron CcntralAnatolia.
In: HoxsingandSeftlcment in AnatoliaiA Historical (IstanbulI996),I l-
Perspective
42.
Fewkes/Goldman
1933 V Fewkes,H. Goldnan,R. Eirich. Excavations at Slarievo,Jugoslavia.B&lletr r/
theAnericanSchoallot PrchistartuReseafth,9,1933.
Gallis1983 K. Ga11is.Evidence for Funerary Rirualsat Crcmation BurialssinceEarlyN eolithicin
Thessaly(C-reece).In: The IntellectualExpressions of PrehistoricMan: AIt and
Religion.Valcamonjca Symposium JII I 979(Capodi Ponte Milano1983),9+-104-
Calovii1967 R. Galovi6.Sahran'ivan'e ustatevadkojkulturi--Srainar 18,196'7,16&112.
GaraSanin1959 M. Garaianin.NeolithikumundBronzezeitin SerbienundMakedonien.- Sert.ire dsl
RGn:39.1958,0 959).
Gates1996 M.-H.Gates.AnhaeologyinTrrkey.- AnericanJaumalofArchaeolos100,1996,2,
2:7',7
i35_
1957
Georgiev G. L Georgiev.Iz Zivotai kulturatanapervitezemedelsko-skotovAdni plemenav Balgaria.
- In: Arheologideski otkritijav Bdlgaia(SofiaI 957),3 I 59.
Ceorsievl96l G. L Georgiev.Kulturgruppen der Jungstein- und der Kupf€zeit in der Ebenevon
Thrazien(Siidbulsarien).ln:tEurope a lafin del'asedelapiere (Pmsa1961),4s-
100.
Georyiev1966 G. L Georgiev.X{nogoslojnoe poselenieAznaika mogilabliz StarojZagory(Bolgaria).
Kratkiesoobiceniainstihltaafieologii 106,1966,3 10.
Georgiev/Kdndev1981 C L Lcois'c\.K. K;nee\.Ra,/konki n" neo.irnoroselirreffaj.. aa!dd. Sonj.l
- Arheolagiteski otkritia ra 1980(Softa 1981), 7.
a].J>,g.
Ho rmouziadis
l97I G. Hourmouziadjs. Burial Customs.- In i D. Theochads(ed.).NeotithicGreece.National
Bankofcreece(Alhensl97l).
Ivanov1978 T. Ivanov.O nekotoryhstoronahpogrebal'nogoobrjadai predsravlenijaho zagrobnon
mirevo vremjaneolitai halkolita v Bolgadi. StudiaPrcehktorico12, t918,157 162.

'' Georgiev1966,10
r ! M e l l a a $1 9 7 1 , 8 7 .
roGalhs1983,99 lt
JacobsonI 969 T.Jacobson. Excavations at PortoCheliandvicinity, PrelirninaryReport,[i TheFranchthi
Cave1967 1968. HesDeria 38.343_381
1981
Jacobson/Culien T. Jacobson, T. Cullen.A Considemtion ofMotuary Practices in Neolithiccreece:
Burialsfrom FranchthiCave. In: S. Hump|reys,H. King (eds.).Mortali!' and
Lnrnortalio,(LondonI981),79 101.
Mellaart1970 J.Mellaat.Excavations atHac ar(Edinbueh1970).
Mellaan1973 J.Mellaalt.TheNeolithicoftheNearEasr[ondon I 973).
Nestorl95l L Nestor.Sapaturiledepesaniierul ValeaJijiei(Jasi Borosani-Dorohoi) inanuli950.
- Studiiti cercetaride istorieyeche2, l95l . 1.
B. Nikolov1975 B. Nikolov.SeliSteot srarija neolitpri s. Gradeinica, Vradanski okrag. Afieola4ija,
1975.1.25-40.
V Nikolov/Grigorova
1992 V Nikoiov,K. Grigorova,E. Sirakova.Die Ausgrabungen in der finhneolirhischen
Siedlungvon Sofia-Slarina,Bulgarien,in der Jahren1981t988. Actapraehisbnca
et archaealoeica24, 1992,221233.
Papathanasopolos
197I G. Papathanasopolos. Spelaia Dirou:Ai anaskafai ton 191O-7 | ., ArcunAth, 4, t9 t 1,
1,12)6.
Petkov1961 N. Petkov.Novidannizaneolitnata kulturakrajSofia. Arheologiia.l96t,3,64 73_
Popov1929 R. Popov.Edin interesen lerep ot D€veiaskata pestera. In: Lovei i Lovdanskol
(Lovei 1929),57 {8.
Rodden1962 R. Rodden.Excavationsat th€ Early Neolithic Site at Nea Nikomedeia,creek
Macedonia( 1961season). Proceedinesofthe PrehistaricSociery28,1962,267 288.
Todorovtvajsov1993 H. Todorova, L Vajsov.Novokamennata epohav Bdlgaria(Sofia1993).
Stanev199I P Stanev. Neolitnikulturiv basejna narekaJantra.Avtoref.nadis.k. i. n. Sofia.199L
Vlassa/Palko1965 N. Vlassa, A- Palko. Un morminnt de inhurnatieapatind culturi C s rimpurii din
Tmnsilvania. Apulun 5, 1965.
Weinberg1970 S.Weinberg. TheStoneAgein theAegean. - Inr C,4IJi, 1970,557 618.

144